RAISING OF PRICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27387, 12 May 1950, Page 4

RAISING OF PRICES

Immediate Order DECONTROLLED ITEMS Protection Against Abuse PA . WELLINGTON, May’ll. The withdrawal of subsidies and the new freight rates would in turn affect the prices of a large number of goods, and accordingly the Government had given immediate attention to adopting measures which would facilitate adjustment, .said the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr Bowden, today. The Minister said he had already met representatives of the business community, and had assured them that the Government was alive to its responsibility of ensuring that industry and trade and the public in general were not' penalised by delays which would be inevitable if consequential price adjustments had to await the normal application and verification procedure of price control as in the past. If the position were left thal traders had to apply individually for new prices, the price division would physically be unable in reasonable time to* handle the thousands of applications which would come in. This would cause vexatious delays to traders and inconvenience to the public. It had accordingly been decided to meet the position in two ways—first, by decontrol of a large number of items; and, secondly, by something in the nature of a general order authorising price adjustments to the extent attributable to alterations in costs due to the withdrawal of subsidies and to the application of the new freight rates. The Minister said the Price Tribunal and the Price Control Division for some time past had been actively engaged preparing extensive lists of items for which the supply position justified immediate decontrol. Before decontrol notices could be gazetted, however, a week or two must elapse, and in the meantime, so that manufacturers and traders could make the necssary alterations arising from the freight and subsidy adjustments; the tribunal proposed, with the Government’s concurrence, to issue an order immediately which would enable the making of appropriate adjustments to prices to compensate for those factors without the necessity , of makipg formal application to the tribunal. The Minister said the order would not authorise the taking of increased margins, and he appealed to traders loyally to observe their obligations in the matter for the short time that would elapse before free play of market forces brought prices to their true level. When the Arbitration Court settled the wages issue, it would be the intention of the tribunal to deal in the same way 1 with any consequential adjustment that might be necessary, although it was expected that by that time very many items would have been released from control. Probably other price-fixing authorities would be invited to adopt similar quick and effective procedure where price or tariff changes were warranted. Although the Government was restoring to manufacturers and traders the right, to a considerable degree, to follow their own trade practices, the public would continue to be protected against any abuse of this freedom by the provisions of the Control of Prices Act relating to profiteering. The Minister said this would remain operative as in the past over the whole field of Ipuying and selling.